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Hands off Tevez - City
City have slapped a ‘Not for Sale’ tag on World Cup hero Carlos Tevez. The Blues have moved quickly to let Real Madrid – and any other potential suitor – know that the Argentine star will remain with them next season.
Reports in Spain suggest the Spanish giants are weighing up a £40m bid for the man, who scored 29 goals for the Blues last season. And his exploits in South Africa have heightened speculation that Madrid Florentino Perez president wants to make Tevez the latest Galactico.
The City hitman scored twice against Mexico on Sunday night to help his country into the quarter-finals, where they will meet Germany on Saturday.
Spanish press suggest Perez may be willing to include one or more of Karim Benzema, Rafael van der Vaart or Sergio Ramos as part of the deal.
But a well-placed City source told M.E.N. Sport: “Carlos is not for sale at any price, and is not going anywhere.”
Tevez himself was delighted at winning two player of the year awards last season, after leaving United 12 months earlier, feeling unappreciated and under-used.
It is also plain that he is unlikely to find another club willing to match his £150,000-a-week wages, and where he is virtually an automatic choice.
Tevez’s stock has risen at the World Cup, fully justifying City’s decision to snap him up from under the noses of neighbours United last summer.
After the difficulties of their qualifying campaign, Argentina have begun the finals as the form team, chalking up four straight wins.
Heart
And Tevez has been at the heart of the team, providing the graft and substance on which Lionel Messi paints football pictures, and Gonzalo Higuain provides the solid currency of goals.
A year ago, Tevez was being dismissed by Sir Alex Ferguson as “not being worth” the £25m that City splashed out on him. But after single-handedly almost firing the Blues into the Champions League places, and setting a new standard for commitment and work rate, Tevez is now elevating his status even further.
If he keeps his form going, he could return to the Premier League with a global reputation on a par with superstars like Messi, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo.
And that kind of kudos is exactly what City’s owners want for the club, and by association for Abu Dhabi, when they embarked on the transformation of City.
Last summer they tried to break the bank and buy then England captain John Terry, with Sheikh Mansour dreaming of a City player captaining England to World Cup glory this summer.
City will be thanking their lucky stars that the deal fell through, for so many reasons – not least his tangled personal life which cost him the armband, and his slump in form.
But if Tevez can now go on to reach the final, it will be the next best thing for the Sheikh and for City’s worldwide image.
The Blues are also closing in on a £53m swoop for La Liga pair Yaya Toure and David Silva. Toure could even be unveiled as City’s new £24m midfielder later this week – the only hold-up appears to be the fact that Barcelona want incoming president Sandro Rosell to rubber-stamp the deal when he takes up office on Thursday.
The Silva deal is not so far advanced, with the player still involved in the World Cup but City are still hopeful of securing his £29m transfer.
The Blues have gone cold on a move for Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko after baulking at the £32m asking price – they will not go back in for him unless the German club drop the fee.
Tevez, meanwhile, admits he cannot bear to think of losing to Germany in Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final.
The 26-year-old striker and his team-mates will attempt to book their place in the semi-finals in Cape Town on Saturday evening with the alternative simply not an option.
Glory
Tevez said: “Why not think I can be a champion? Every night, I do. I have a hunger for glory so great that I can not imagine the great sadness there would be without the cup. I could not bear to lose on Saturday.”
He is desperate to deliver the biggest prize of all for the fans. He said: “It makes me really happy. It must be my way of playing. I give everything for every ball, and people identify with that.
“Hopefully, with all the boys, we can give them the joy we all hope for.”
Meanwhile, City have recruited Chelsea’s top talent-spotter as they gear up for the next stage of their academy development.
Former United youth striker Gary Worthington, who is the nephew of Frank and played for Wigan, Darlington, Wrexham, Exeter and Halifax in the lower leagues, has moved in as assistant to head of player recruitment Mike Rigg.
And Mancini has added old pal Attilio Lombardo to his coaching staff. The 44-year-old played alongside Mancini at Sampdoria, and made his name in English football as player manager of Crystal Palace.
The former Italy winger was close to Mancini and Blues coach Fausto Salsano when they all played for Sampdoria.
Lombardo said: “I’m proud to work alongside Mancini. I played for a year and a half at Crystal Palace so I know some of the football.”
And Under-20 Colombia international goalkeeper Cristian Bonilla claims he is set to sign for City.
The Blues may bolster their keeping ranks with the highly-rated 17-year-old as first choice Shay Given recovers from the shoulder injury which ruled him out of the end of the campaign.
A deal is said to have been agreed with Colombian club Boyaca Chico, which will see Bonilla spend time on loan in Spain to help adapt to European football